You have friends wherever you go in the world, even if you have never met before.
Recently, during my journey through countries around the world to travel, experience and enjoy life while learning about entrepreneurship, culture, and people…, I visited Istanbul, Turkey.
Turkey is a very special country, the only country in the world located on both continents: Asia and Europe. Istanbul has an extraordinarily enchanting beauty (Turkey has many other beautiful cities and is also home to the legendary Trojan horse). As Napoleon put it, Istanbul is the “Capital of the whole world.” Here you encounter a blend of many cultures. Just look at the architecture of the buildings and streets: it blends European and Asian architecture, Islam and other religions.
When I arrived in Istanbul, JCI Turkey's 2016 vice president welcomed me. She took us all on a sightseeing tour of Istanbul, saving me any travel-company fees. She even insisted on paying for most food and drinks (but we would not let her).
If you go to Turkey, you must visit Cappadocia, so we went there and were again welcomed by the president of JCI Cappadocia. He drove us around the city to the places with the best views. Then he took me to visit JCI's founding president there, one of JCI Turkey's 2 Senators, who owns one of Turkey's largest carpet businesses. My traveling companion was so excited that he bought one, even though the carpets in this Showroom were far from cheap: one tiny piece cost around 50,000 Usd.
Truly wonderful experiences together. All they ultimately told me was: Do not worry, you are welcome anytime, simply because you are a Jaycee (JCI Member—before traveling to a country, as an entrepreneur with a JCI network, I only need to email JCI members there, and they will welcome me).
Jaycees speak a common language—the JCI language—and live with a shared spirit—the JCI spirit. So even when meeting for the first time, they feel as though they have known one another for years.
What is JCI?
JCI is currently the world’s largest federation of young entrepreneurs, with more than 200,000 members in 150 countries, having existed and developed over the past 100 years. Nearly 40% of the billionaires on the Fortune list and many leaders of the United States, Japan, the UN and others are JCI members. JCI members are “Active Citizen”, working together to create practical social projects, somewhat close to the concept of “social entrepreneurs”
To join JCI in Vietnam, please email me with your profile attached at: taminhtuan8@gmail.com.
Your experiences shape who you are, your future, and your destiny.
If I had never started a business, I would not be an entrepreneur. Without being an entrepreneur, I would not have had the chance to experience hard-earned business lessons. Without those experiences, I might never have met you or had anything to share; this article might not exist. I would now be doing some other work, our paths would differ, and we might never have a chance to ‘touch’ one another. Without business, perhaps I would still be a little ‘clueless,’ jokingly speaking, drifting and idling without knowing my future or fate, without a concrete direction, ‘wasting away’ on Facebook day after day. Life would have nothing special or worth mentioning. (Be lazy when young and you will… have nothing to say when old!) If so, I might never have had the means to create a ‘Startup School’ to help entrepreneurs, travel widely, join JCI, visit Turkey as described in this article, receive a warm welcome, learn so much from ‘Global Citizens’ worldwide, and lower the barriers between us as far as possible…
Your choice may be right or wrong, but you must choose. Your action may be wrong or right, but you must act.
If you live long enough, you will see all sorts of things in life. But some things, if you do not experience them while still young enough, will pass forever, with no way to bring them back. Those precious experiences will never return to you.
A calm mind, clear wisdom, and courageous action. Find a problem to solve, build a system (a business) to solve it systematically, and seek help and mentorship. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best? Right now.
TMT
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